Feed for carding-engines.



PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904.

0. M. BARBER. FEED FOR GARDING ENGINES.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 16. 1904.

NO MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented August 2, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

FEED FOR CARDlNG-ENGINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 766,486, dated. August2, 1904.

Application filed January 15, 1904. Serial No. 189,127. (No model.)

To all whom! it WHY/U concern:

Be it known that I, COLONEL Moses BARB ER, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, residing at Monson, in the county of Hampden andCommonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Feed forCaroling-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in feed mechanism for first andsecond breakers and finisher-cards in which the tumbler is locatedadjacent to but out of direct working relation or operative conjunctionwith the main cylinder and a small cylinder and a dofl'er or feeder areintroduced between said tumbler and main cylinder, theweb being fed tothe latter for the first time by such dofl'er or feeder, an arrangementwhich under ordinary conditions necessitates the placing of the smallcylinder and dofl'er or feeder above the tumbler and generally the axisof one or both in advance of the axis of the tumbler. The exact relativepositions of these axes neednot be maintained, however, when it isdesirable or expedient to change the same, provided the generalarrangement of parts is not radically departed from, and it is possibleto conceive of a structure wherein the small cylinder and dofi'er orfeeder might be located below the tumbler; but it is believed that nosuch structure would be practical. In addition to the foregoing .1 mayuse one or more workers, two generally being suflicient for the bestresults. When two workers are employed, one operates in connection withthe tumbler and small cylinder and the other with the small cylinder anddoffer or feeder.

The object of my improvementis to provide a feed of the class specifiedwhich increases the amount of material that can be successfully handledby a given machine in a given time and improves the quality of thedrawing or roving, as the case may be. The increase in quantity andimprovement in quality'may each ordinarily be reckoned as high astwentyfive per cent. and in some cases even thirtythree and one-thirdper cent. or more. The increased production results from the acceleratedspeed which it is possible to give a machine equipped with my feedmechanism, and the improved quality is brought about by working thelumps out of the web and getting the same into good conditionthat is,making an even web of itbefore' delivery to the main cylinder. Amachineprovided with this feed mechanism can be run at least twentyfive percent. faster than one without it and will successfully handle a lowergrade of stock for a given size of yarn, thereby lowering the price ofproduction still more.

A further object of my invention is to provide practicable and efficientfeed mechanism with which to accomplish the above-mentioned object whichis simple and comparatively inexpensive and may be applied to an old aswell as a new machine, such mechanism being of such nature as to onlyslightly increase the length of the machine to which it is applieda veryvaluable consideration when it is necessary to economize floor-space, asfrequently occurs.

Heretofore it has been necessary to run the breakers and thefinisher-card at a comparatively low rate of speed, and the web couldnot be worked down in either or all of the machines to the degree ofevenness needed to produce the best results, but would be more or lesslumpy and rough after passing through the machine or machines, at leastvery much more uneven than when my feed is used, which successfullyovercomes these disadvantages.

I attain these objects by the mcchan ism illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, which shows a side view of the feed as applied to the maincylinder of a breaker or finisher-card.

It will be understood that the several rotary members, including themain cylinder,are suitably supported or journaled and driven by belts,gears, &c., in any convenient manner, such supporting and driving-meansdiffering more or less in different machines.

Like letters of reference designate like parts.

A portion of the main cylinder of a machine is represented at a, and itsperiphery is covered with wire teeth or card-clothing b, as are theperipheries of the other rotary members described below. The arrangementof the teeth I) varies, as will be seen referring to the drawing. Whenthe arrangement is such members in the drawing indicate the directionsin which said cylinder and members are adapted to revolve. With thiscylinder a tumbler 0, leader d,and feed-rolls e and e are employed, asusual, only the members are so arranged as to leave an inch of'space,perhaps, between the tumbler and cylinder, since the former does not nowdirectly deliver the stock to the latter.

In addition to the old members just described a cylinder f, hereintermed small or auxiliary cylinder to distinguish it from the maincylinder a, is provided, also a doifer g, which is also a feeder. Thecylinder f operates in conjunction with the tumbler 0 and the doifer andfeeder g in conjunction with both cylinders f and a. The teeth 6 on thetumbler 0 and the cylinder f are arranged point to back, and the same istrue of the teeth on said cylinder and the doffer and feeder g.

It is generally preferred to employ two workers it and it with the smallcylinder, al-

though one or both may sometimes bev omitted without disadvantageouslyaffecting the desired results to too great an extent, and, on the otherhand, more than two may be introduced into the mechanism if it is foundto be advantageous to do so; but 1 have found by experience that twoworkers arranged as shown that is, in operative conjunction with thetumbler and doffer and feeder, as well as with the small cylindergiveentire satisfaction. The teeth 5 on the cylinder f and each oftheworkers 71 and 7a are arranged point to point, while the teeth on theworker h and the tumbler 0 are point to back, as are those on the worker72/. and the doifer and feeder g. I

The dotted lines and 7' indicate the positions of the first worker andits stripper, respectively, of the machine, which worker and stripperform no part of this invention and are referred to merely for thepurpose of showing that the new mechanismcan be appliedwithoutdisturbing such members when they are located asusual. Inshort, the onlyalteration required to attach my mechanism to an old machine other-thanproviding suitable bearings for the new parts is to move back thetumbler, leader, and feed-rolls about an inch or replace the old tumblerwith one x which is aninch or so smaller.

Some idea of the relative speeds ofthe different rotary members may begathered from the following; but it is to be distinctly understood thatsuch speeds must vary considerably in different machines and fordifierent grades of stock.

Assuming that the main cylinder a makes one hundred and twentyrevolutions per minute,the auxiliary cylinder f should make about twohundred and sixty, the tumbler 0 about one hundred and thirty, .and thedoffer and feeder 9 about four hundred and fifty. The worker It may makesome twelve revolutions per minute and the worker 72. perhaps not morethan eight. The feed-rolls e and e revolve very slowly, the speedvarying according to the weight of stock per yard which is to be runbetween them. The leader (Z runs faster than the feed-rolls, but not sofast as the tumblerabout one hundred and fifty revolutions.

The numbers on the drawing designate the approximate surface speeds ofthe several members upon which such numbers appear, the calculationsbeing based upon the figures given in the preceding paragraph and thesizes of the members, which latter can be readily ascertained when it isknown that the drawing is about one-eighth full size. Althoughrelatively correct, at least approximately, these speeds will of coursegreatly vary, and I do not desire or intend to be unduly restricted toor by them.

The general operation of my feed mechanism will :be understood from theforegoing, especially if reference be had to the heavy broken line inthe drawing, which marks the courseof the web; but a brief detaileddescription will be here given, first without considering the workers itand h, which, as has already been remarked, may be omitted under someconditions. The stock is drawn between the feed-rolls e and e anddelivered to the tumbler 0 by the leader d in the same manner asheretofore; but instead of delivering the web of stock, which is nowlumpy, coarse, and uneven, directly to the main cylinder a the tumbler 0delivers it to the small or auxiliary cylinder f, which has a much morerapid surface speed than said tumbler. The small cylinder f in turndelivers the web to the fasterrunning doffer and feeder g, and therapidlyrevolving main cylinder a receives said web from said dofler andfeeder. From this point on the web takes the usual course and receivesthe usual treatment. By the time the web reaches the main cylinder thelumps have been pretty thoroughly workedout and it is finer and moreeven, thereby producing a better grade of yarn than formerly, owingtothe treatment which my invention provides. Furthermore, the timerequired to produce this improved yarn is greatly reduced by the newfeed.

Thereductionof the stock ,to proper condi-' tion must be done before itis delivered to the main cylinder, because after such delivery there isno opportunity or provision for thoroughly and speedily doing this work.Consequently it is generally found to be expedient to employ the twoworkers it and 7a, which split the web twice between the tumbler c andthe dofl'er and feeder g. The worker it takes the web, or a portion ofit, from the auxiliary cylinder f and returns it to the tumbler c, whichdelivers it again to said cylinder, and the worker h takes from thecylinder and delivers to the doffer and feeder g, which delivers the nowunited splits to the main cylinder 0. The slow-running workers operatingwith the comparatively fast-running members 0, f, and augment theeffectiveness of the latter and enhance the efliciency of the feed.

Although I have shown and described a preferred form and arrangement ofmy feed, it is obvious that more or less change therein may be makewithout departing from the nature of my invention, and I desire toinclude in and cover broadly by my claims any and all departures fromsuch form or arrangement, variations in size or speed of members, andother changes which fairly fall within the scope of said invention.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

l. The combination, in feed mechanism of the class specified, with themain cylinder and the leader, of a tumbler in operative relation withsaid leader and adjacent to but out of direct operative relation withsaid cylinder, and means grouped about the adjacent periphery of thecylinder, out of a horizontal or approximately horizontal line, adaptedto indirectly deliver stock fromsaid tumber to the cylinder.

2. The combination, in feed mechanism of the class specified, with themain cylinder and a tumbler out of. direct operative relation therewith,of a series of rotary members having a faster surface speed than saidtumbler and a slower surface speed than said cylinder. such membersbeing grouped about the adjacent periphery of the main cylinder, out ofa horizontal or approximately horizontal line, and forming an indirectmeans of delivery between the tumbler and main cylinder.

3. The combination, in feed mechanism of the class specified, of atumbler, an auxiliary cylinder, a doffer and feeder, and a maincylinder, each in the order named after the tumbler having a surfacespeed in excess of the preceding member, the tumbler and auxiliarycylinder being adjacent to but out of direct operative relation with themain cylinder, and the dolfer and feeder being in direct operativerelation with the latter.

at. The combination, in feed mechanism of the class specified, with themain cylinder and the leader, of a tumbler in operative relation withsaid leader and adjacent to but out of direct operative relation withsaid cylinder, an

auxiliary cylinder, also adjacent to but out of direct operativerelation with the maln cylinder, in operative relation with the tumbler,

and a doffer and feeder in operative relation 7 with both cylinders.

5. The combination, in feed mechanism of the class specified, of atumbler, an auxiliary cylinder, a dotfer and feeder, and a maincylinder, each in the order named after the tumbler having a surfacespeed in excess of the preceding member and the card-clothing teeth onassociated members being arranged point to back.

6. The combination, in feed mechanism of the class specified, with themain cylinder and the leader, of a tumbler in operative relation withsaid leader and adjacent to but out of direct operative relation withsaid cylinder, an auxiliary cylinder in operative relation with thetumbler, a dofi'er and feeder in operative relation with both cylinders,and one or more workers in operative relation with said auxiliarycylinder.

7. The combination, in feed mechanismof the class specified, of arapidly-revolving main cylinder, at dofi'er and feeder in operativerelation with said cylinder, an auxiliary cylinder in operative relationwith said dofi'er and feeder, a tumbler adjacent to but out of directcontact with the main cylinder and in operative relation with saidauxiliary cylinder, and a worker in operative relation with theauxiliary cylinder, each of the members in the order named after themain cylinder having a surface speed which is less than the precedingmember.

8. The combination, in feed meehanismof the class specified, with themain cylinder, of a tumbler out of direct operative relation with saidcylinder, a coacting auxiliary cylinder, a

dofl'er and feeder in operative relation with.

both cylinders, and a worker in operative relation with the auxiliarycylinder and the tumbler, the card-clothing teeth on the auxiliarycylinder and worker being arranged point to point and on the otherassociated members point to back.

9. The combination, in feed mechanism of the class specified, with themain cylinder, of a tumbler out of direct operative relation with saidcylinder, a coacting auxiliary cylinder, a doffer and feeder inoperative relation with both cylinders, and a worker in operativerelation with the auxiliary cylinder and the dofi'er and feeder, thecard-clothing teeth on the auxiliary cylinder and worker being arrangedpoint to point and on the other associated members point to back.

10. The combination, in feed mechanism of the class specified, with themain cylinder, of a tumbler out of direct operative relation with saidcylinder, acoacting auxiliary cylinder, a doffer and feeder in operativerelation with both cylinders, a worker in operative relation with theauxiliary cylinder and the tumbler, I In testimony WhereofI have signedmy name and a second Worker in operative relation to this specificationin the presence of two sub- With the auxiliary cylinder and the dofierand scribing Witnesses.

feeder, the card-clothing teeth on the auxil- COLONEL MOSES BARBER. 5iary cylinder and Workers being arranged Witnesses:

point to point and on the other associated F. A. CUTTER,

members point to back. A. L. STEVENS.

